Hakkar the Soulflayer
| location = Zul'Gurub | status = Eternal }} Hakkar the Soulflayer, "Blood God" of the Gurubashi trolls, is the troll and a malevolent and destructive creature that controls the Gurubashi Empire's fallen capital of Zul'Gurub. He is part of the troll pantheon, who are more powerful than elementals but not as powerful as gods (demigods).Magic & Mayhem, page 46 Background Hakkar is a powerful entity in the history of Azeroth. Ancient times The long centuries following the Great Sundering of the world were difficult ones for the troll race. Famine and terror were commonplace within the broken kingdoms. The Gurubashi trolls, driven to desperate ends, sought aid from ancient, mystical forces. Though both of the troll kingdoms shared a central belief in a great pantheon of primitive gods, the Gurubashi fell under the sway of the darkest one. Hakkar the Soulflayer, a vile, bloodthirsty spirit, heard the trolls' call and decided to aid them. Hakkar gave his secrets of blood to the Gurubashi and helped them extend their civilization across most of Stranglethorn Vale and certain islands of the South Seas. Though he brought them great power, Hakkar wanted more and more for his efforts. The bloodthirsty god demanded souls be sacrificed to him daily. He dreamed of gaining access to the physical world so he could devour the blood of all mortal creatures. In time the Gurubashi realized what kind of creature they had courted with — and turned against him. The strongest tribes rose up against Hakkar and his loyal priests — the Atal'ai. The terrible war that ensued between Hakkar's followers and the rest of the Gurubashi tribes is spoken of only in whispers. The budding empire was shattered by the magic unleashed between the angry god and his rebel children. Just as the battle seemed most hopeless, the trolls succeeded in destroying Hakkar's avatar and banishing him from the world. Even his Atal'ai priests were eventually driven from the capital of Zul'Gurub and forced to survive in the uncharted swamplands of the north. Within those shadowy fens they built a great temple to their fallen god — Atal'Hakkar — where they could continue to do their master's work.Wrath of Soulflayer Temple of Atal'Hakkar Though the priests were defeated and ultimately exiled, the great troll empire buckled in upon itself. The exiled priests fled far to the north, into the Swamp of Sorrows. There they erected a great temple to Hakkar — where they could prepare for his arrival into the physical world. The great dragon Aspect, Ysera, learned of the Atal'ai's plans and smashed the temple beneath the marshes. To this day, the temple's drowned ruins are guarded by the green dragons who prevent anyone from getting in or out. However, it is believed that some of the fanatical Atal'ai may have survived Ysera's wrath — and recommitted themselves to the dark service of Hakkar.WoW -> Info -> Basics -> World Dungeons (The Sunken Temple) (Retrieved 09-10-2010) Their spiritual leader, Jammal'an, had what he called a prophecy. He believed the summoning of Hakkar will bring the Atal'ai immortality. They even prepared a dark ritual to call the Avatar of Hakkar back into the physical world, but it was finally thwarted by a group of heroic adventurers assaulting the temple. Zul'Gurub In time, the Atal'ai priests discovered that Hakkar's physical form could only be summoned within the ancient capital of the Gurubashi Empire, Zul'Gurub. Unfortunately, the priests have met with recent success in their quest to call forth Hakkar — reports confirm the presence of the dreaded Soulflayer in the heart of the Gurubashi ruins. In order to quell the blood god, the trolls of the land banded together and sent a contingent of High Priests into the ancient city. Each priest was a powerful champion of the Primal Gods — Bat, Panther, Tiger, Spider, and Snake — but despite their best efforts, they fell under the sway of Hakkar. Now the champions and their Primal God aspects feed the awesome power of the Soulflayer. Any adventurers brave enough to venture into the foreboding ruins must overcome the High Priests if they are to have any hope of confronting the mighty blood god.WoW -> Info -> Under Development -> Zulgurub [sic] (Retrieved 09-10-2010) In Battle for Azeroth Media Images Videos Notes * The Vale Screechers are called the cousins of Hakkar, and their spirits seem to be linked to him. * Hakkar the Soulflayer is known only as "Hakkar" in his appearance as a boss in Zul'Gurub. The Corrupted Blood Incident Shortly after Zul'Gurub's original release several players across many servers found that his debuff, Corrupted Blood (which takes away health and is highly contagious, yet can't leave the instance on players) could be carried out on warlock minions or hunter pets. When they did this they unleashed a massive, in-game epidemic that killed low level players in seconds and allowed higher levels enough time to corrupt others. Blizzard, who didn't see it coming at first, eventually reset all the servers and made it impossible to carry it out on a pet. Houndmaster and Soulflayer According to an interview, Hakkar the Houndmaster and Hakkar the Soulflayer are two different entities: :Richard A. Knaak: :"Hakkar first existed in WELL OF ETERNITY, as Hakkar the Houndmaster, my creation. Blizzard must have liked the name, because they accidentally took the name afterward for the troll god. Chris Metzen apologized for the mix-up at the L.A. Festival of Books." Trivia Physically, Hakkar seems to resemble the Mesoamerican deity "Quetzalcoatl" or "Kukulkan," both of which can be translated "Feathered Serpent". This fits in with certain aspects from troll architecture and culture, which resemble those of the Aztec and Maya, both of whom revered the Feathered Serpent. Speculation Faceless one According to the Zandalar troll Molthor, one of his titles is "The faceless one". Primal Torntusk calls him "the faceless blood God" in a quest. Also, Hakkar drops a piece of loot called . Though this in-game text specifically uses the words "The faceless one" for Hakkar the Soulflayer, it not known if he has any connection with the creatures encountered beneath Northrend, but he may. Old God Speculation :This has been largely debunked by many sources, and especially in Battle for Azeroth. There is a possibility that Hakkar is actually an Old God. Lands of Mystery says that long ago, at the Temple of Atal'Hakkar, the trolls attempted to summon and control Hakkar, an old god of theirs.Lands of Conflict, page 59 Brann Bronzebeard believes that perhaps Hakkar is the child of an Old God (due to his seeming connection to the Emerald Dream).Horde Player's Guide, page 185 Yeh'kinya calls Hakkar "an old, old god" and "the old god of which I spoke" in a quest. It is also possible that Hakkar is just a god that is old. Note that Hakkar is significantly weaker then the two other Old Gods that have currently been portrayed, and is neither chained up in a titan prison nor dead. It is possible that he is a minion of the Old Gods, or some kind of avatar of an Old God. He may be a Loa that is in league with the Old Gods. Al'Akir has been said to take the form of a "winged serpent" (implied to be a wind serpent).Shadows & Light, page 100 As Al'Akir and Hakkar both have a connection to wind serpents, and Al'Akir has a connection to the Old Gods, Hakkar may be connected to the Old gods as well. However, this is not necessarily the case. Trolls worshiping the Old Gods is not unknown.Magic & Mayhem, page 22 The forest trolls of Zul'Aman worship Ula-Tek, the serpent goddess. Ula-Tek is perhaps an Old God. The Dark Iron clan seems to think so.Lands of Conflict, pages 115-118 This theory may be supported by the "faceless one" theory above. Connection to the Emerald Nightmare It is implied by Itharius that Eranikus falling to the Emerald Nightmare was caused by Hakkar.Itharius#Conversation_with_Itharius Malfurion Stormrage claims that the Old Gods are behind the Nightmare.Malfurion_Stormrage#In_World_of_Warcraft Eranikus himself does not clearly comment on this issue. This may mean that Hakkar is at least partially behind the Emerald Nightmare, and thus in league with the Old Gods in some form (or is one himself), or that Hakkar merely weakened Eranikus enough for the Nightmare to take hold. This connection is not mentioned in quests surrounding Zul'Gurub, or in quests surrounding Eranikus' redemption. It is also not touched upon in Stormrage. It is also stated by Itharius that the Atal'ai at the Temple of Atal'Hakkar are using Hakkar's blood to make green dragons fall to the Emerald Nightmare. References See also External links ;Unknown location, but probably Zul'Gurub de:Hakkar fr:Hakkar l'Écorcheur d'Âmes pl:Hakkar the Soulflayer Category:Eternals Category:Loa Category:Lore characters